


Habits

by Livinginfictions



Series: What it Means to be Human [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, I promise, Incredible Denial, Intense Castiel Cuteness, M/M, On Dean's Part, UA, at least not about the falling, but it's not super sad, cheek kisses, falling angel, falling asleep, that's a thing right?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-28
Updated: 2014-11-29
Packaged: 2018-02-15 04:51:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2216466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Livinginfictions/pseuds/Livinginfictions
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of fluff pieces I wrote after reading far too much Destiel fanfiction in one sitting than is good for my health.</p><p>Cas is just trying to fit in with the humans, but he picks up some interesting habits.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter One, written as I suffered through the first day of school, while simultaneously tried to control the symptoms of being bit by the Destiel bug.

After making himself as comfortable as possible on the disgusting lump that used to be a couch, in the abandoned house of the week, Dean cracked open Dad's journal with the hope that rereading it for the thousandth time would make him bored enough to fall asleep. He'd been up late the past few nights, and now that they didn't have any pressing research he found that he didn't even feel tired, though it was already at least 1 in the morning.

A quiet voice sounded from in front of him right as he was starting on the wendigo page.

"Dean?" Castiel was staring at him like usual, but his hands were playing with the long sleeves on his trenchcoat. It was a habit Dean was sure the angel didn't know he had, but he would never tell Cas about it. It was one of the many signs that he was becoming more and more human, both physically and mentally.

"Hey Cas, what's up? I thought you went to sleep over an hour ago." Dean saw the near timidness in Cas and closed the journal, worried now.

The angel looked down at his body with a frustrated glare. "I'm finding it difficult to rest. I can feel how tired my vessel is, but I cannot fall asleep. I cannot keep myself from thinking."

Dean chuckled, "Can't turn your brain off huh?"

Slowly Cas nodded, "That is a surprisingly good metaphor for the situation."

Sighing, Dean tossed the book toward his bag and stood up. "Alright Cas, I'm gonna teach you the Winchester trick of getting some shut eye when you have to sleep on a floor. First, take off your jacket."

"I do not understand the point in removing a layer of clothing." Cas protested. But even as he argued he was pulling his arms out of the sleeves and folding the jacket over his arm.

Dean shook his head and led Cas over to his chosen sleeping area, careful not to step on Sam's unconscious form along the way. "Just trust me okay?"

Again, he was given a solemn nod. Dean shook off the intense stare he was getting and moved on to step two.

"Now when you lay down, use the coat as a blanket. Yeah, I know it won't keep you especially warm, but it's always worked for us. If you asked Sammy about it, he'd probably give you an earful about psychology. He has to do this all the time. When he was younger, he actually used to use my jacket instead. Still does sometimes. He once told me it helped more than his own."

For a brief second Dean wondered why he was telling someone something so private, but then a voice in his head explained. Because it's Cas. It's not like he would tell anyone. When he looked at Cas again, his eyes were fixed on Dean's jacket, practically envious, as though it held magical sleeping powers that Dean was refusing to share.

Cas held his jacket out to Dean, and it took a moment for Dean to understand. He was going to make a joke about needing tucked in, but stopped when he saw the circle's under Cas' eyes. The poor guy looked exhausted; who knew how long he'd been having trouble sleeping before he caved and came to Dean for help. If Cas wanted tucked in, then he was gonna get tucked in. Just this once of course.

He took the jacket from Cas' hands with a small smile and jerked his head toward the tiny pillow on the floor. "Alright, lay down and make yourself comfortable."

Cas laid on his side, facing Dean, and curled his knees a little. He took up a lot less space than Dean thought he would, folding in on himself. Dean kneeled next to the angel and draped the coat over him, straightening the corners at the bottom so they were spread out properly. Cas seemed to be getting the idea and practically snuggled down under the makeshift blanket, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.

To anyone else it would look like Cas was already out, but Dean could see the tension in his shoulders and knew that he was still far from asleep.

Not really thinking, Dean reached for Cas' head, but froze halfway there and stared at his hand. Slowly he inched his hand forward, until it was resting feather light on the angel's dark hair. When he started using his fingertips to rub little circle's on Castiel's scalp, the angel hummed and turned his head, giving Dean better access to his hair.

Feeling more confident, the hunter began running his hand through the locks, brushing them back from his face and combing his fingers through them. After what simultaneously felt like forever and just a few seconds, Cas spoke. His voice was slurred and quiet, even in the silent room.

"What're you doing Dean?"

The man in question shushed him and continued the scalp massage and hair petting. "Just go to sleep Cas." he soothed.

Not long after, all the tenseness in Cas was gone, and he was breathing quietly through a partly open mouth.

On impulse Dean carefully pulled the trench coat off his angel and replaced it with his leather jacket. Who knew, maybe it would help. He rolled the trench coat up and placed it at Cas' back, then got up and went over to his own spot.

In the morning Dean was covered in his own jacket, and Cas' area was empty, but any doubts about the legitimacy of the night before were gone when Cas showed up later in the day. The circles under his eyes were much less noticeable, and he was in a much better mood than he'd been in the past couple weeks, his sarcasm less biting and more friendly.

And if his gaze seemed to find Dean even more often than normal, Dean didn't see a reason to call him out on it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta Da. Again, I wrote it during school. Because who needs to pay attention to lesson plans, when there's fanfiction to be written?

A couple weeks later, Cas developed a new habit.

They'd finally finished wrapping up a particularly long case that involved more witches than Dean could stand -that is to say, one- and Castiel was about to head out and retrieve some rare ingredients that they'd been running low on. Just before he disappeared, he walked up to Dean purposefully and pressed a soft peck to his cheek like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Dean, of course, was shocked into silence and stared at the space where the angel had been until Sam practically waved a hand in front of his face to bring him back to reality.

"Dude, you okay?" Sam asked, he was half smiling, but looked just as confused as Dean felt.

The older brother reached up and wiped his cheek to remove the slight tingle before looking blankly at Sam. "Why the hell did he do that?"

Sam just shrugged and headed to his bed to pack up some of his weapons. "I don't know."

Dean glared at his back, "How are you so calm about this? An angel of the lord just, _you know_."

Stashing one of his knives, Sam took a second to reply before saying, "Maybe because this is Cas we're talking about? Dude picks up something new every time he goes in public. We're lucky he didn't decide that stabbing people in the chest was the proper way to greet them after he met you for the first time."

"Then why didn't he, you know, do it to you?" Dean felt his face start to heat up and walked to the fridge for a beer so Sam wouldn't notice it.

"Why didn't he _kiss_ me, you mean? Maybe because you and he have a more _profound bond_." There was a slight chuckle at the end and Dean rolled his eyes so hard his head followed the movement.

"Would you shut up about that already? That was _months_ ago, it stopped being funny after like the first time you mentioned it." He dropped into a chair in the kitchenette and propped his feet up on the table. When he took a sip of the beer it rolled down his throat and immediately made him feel a little better about the situation.

More chuckling came from Sam until he found the will to control himself and sat on the edge of the bed. "Seriously though, Cas has always been more comfortable trying human stuff with you. You're like his sensei, so if you don't want him to do it, just tell him and he'll stop. You know, unless you _like_ that he's decided kissing you is normal."

Dean groaned and tilted his head back to glare at the ceiling, " I don't like it. But I still can't do that to the guy. He's trying to be a semi-functioning member of society, if I shoot him down he might just give up."

His Sasquatch of a brother sighed as he stood up again and swung his bag over his shoulder. Heading toward the door of the motel, he stopped for a second to say, "Then I suggest you get used to Cas kissing you." then went out to the impala.

Feeling a bit petulant Dean called after him, "It's just my damn cheek, it's not like it means anything!"

"Not like _what_ means anything?" came a gravelly voice from behind him. The angel had the worst timing.

Dean hoped his face wasn't turning red and looked at the guy, "Uh, nothing. Are you coming in the car or are you gonna fly?" Even after all this time, it was still a weird sentence for him to say.

"I believe I would rather fly. I don't know how much longer I will have my wings, I want to enjoy them." Cas didn't look at all affected by what he'd just said, and it made Dean feel all the worse.

He stepped toward the angel and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Look man, I'm sorry about that. I know it doesn't help, but I am."

To Dean's surprise, Castiel actually smiled at him, and it didn't look at all forced. "Dean, it's not your fault, I made my choice. Besides, it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I have you and your brother to help me, at least I won't have to become human alone."

Smiling back was a reflex, and Dean found that he didn't have to do much for it to be genuine. "Right, well I guess I'll see you when we stop for the night."

"Of course." and Cas was stepping forward into Dean's space, leaning toward his cheek again. "Uh, Cas?" He put his hand out and pressed it against Cas' chest until he stepped backward.

Now the angel was frowning, "Yes Dean? Is something wrong?"

Oh, what the hell?

"Nothing, you're fine." Dean didn't protest again when Cas leaned forward, and he didn't remove his hand from the angel's chest while he was kissed softly on the cheek again. When Cas disappeared Dean tossed the beer bottle on the table into the trash, grabbed his duffel, and left the motel.

All the while he stubbornly ignored the urge to rub the tingling on his cheek away. Seriously, was that an angel thing or what?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 3, I wrote it in Earth Science to stay awake, as it's one of the most boring classes ever.

The kisses goodbye were the only habit that stuck over the next few cases. Cas experimented with a variety of new greetings and slang that he'd observed other humans using, but the Winchester's seemed to like him better when he just spoke like himself, and he dropped them all after a couple tries. Except the kisses, those the boys accepted easily, so he continued it.

Sam watched as Dean grew more and more used to these unusual goodbyes. He didn't flinch after the first day, and by the end of the week he seemed to expect them, turning his his cheek toward Cas each time he was going to leave. Sam didn't bother to tease him about it because they both somehow looked better off for it. Less tense, and harder to irritate. If it kept them happy, he didn't care if they made out every time they parted.

One particular day, Dean and Cas had been arguing about who knows what, and Cas had looked ready to either fly off, or kick Dean' ass. When he grabbed Dean's shirt collar, Sam was sure he was about to throw his brother into a wall, and started to reach for them to break it up. The angry angel tugged Dean forward and practically growled at him,

" _You. Are. **Infuriating** , Dean Winchester._"

Dean closed his eyes and tensed up in preparation for his impending flight/beating, and wasn't at all prepared for the firm press of soft lips on his cheekbone. His eyes flew open and he stared into the angel's sparking blue ones. All the stubborn anger from before dissipated and he was left with a strange light feeling in his chest that wasn't all that bad. Dean chanced a small half smile at his angel and was rewarded with one in return before Castiel disappeared.

He stumbled a little, now that Cas wasn't holding him up anymore, and when he'd straightened his jacket he huffed a breath and looked at his brother, whose face was weirdly blank. "That was close."

Sam's only response was to snort and go back to his laptop, shaking his shaggy head. How thick could his brother get?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4, ready for your viewing pleasure. Be sure to let me know what you think in the comments, I'd love to hear from you. :D

"Dammit Dean. What's the good in becoming human if I can't heal you anymore? I can throw monsters and demons through walls, but I can't heal **you**!" Castiel slammed his fist into the table and sent it crashing to the floor in a pile of splinters. As his powers slowly drained, his healing had grown weaker and weaker, until he couldn't even fix a papercut.

From the corner of his twin bed in the dank hotel room, Dean winced in sympathy for the furniture. Or rather, half in sympathy, half in pain. He pressed his ice pack to the side of his head again and tried to reassure the falling angel. "You did heal me Cas, you fixed my nose, and closed up all my cuts. I'm not even bleeding anymore."

Castiel rounded on him. "I fixed your nose by snapping the cartilage back into place, and your wounds I sewed with a needle and thread. Yet you're still bruised, and in pain....I can't take the pain away Dean." At this, he looked practically heartbroken, as though his only goal in life was to keep Dean Winchester from hurting.

Dean stood up carefully and put his hand on Cas' shoulder, squeezing until he looked back up at him. "I'm gonna be fine Cas. A little Aspirin, some sleep, and I'll be good to go. You don't have to do everything, us humans can get along pretty well."

With anyone else, he would have skipped to being fine already, but Cas had learned (probably from Sam) how to tell when he lied.  
The look Cas gave him was disbelieving, and Dean could practically see him going through the Earth's history to remind himself of how incredibly wrong Dean was. He didn't argue though, just asked where the Aspirin was.

There was no point in trying to do it himself, as Cas had taken it upon himself to distribute their pain meds. He always gave them the recommended dose, and no more. Seeing his friend's strictness with the pain pills made Dean feel a lot better about the future Zachariah had taken him to, and he let Cas do his thing without complaint.

After taking the pills (with water, Cas made sure) Dean laid down on his bed, hoping Cas didn't hear the groan he let out when his arm bumped the nightstand. He had no desire to use the hotel blankets, knowing full well how dirty they always were. Hotels this cheap didn't need to be clean to get business.

When Cas walked over, Dean assumed he had heard the groan and prepared to argue with him about how _fine_ he was. But the angel didn't say anything, just started pulling his jacket off. As he draped it over Dean he said quietly, "To help you sleep."

Just as quietly, because he felt like it wasn't the time to be loud, Dean asked, "Where's my jacket?"

Cas turned his head to glare at the garment hanging on the back of a chair, "It's covered in your blood."

"Oh, okay." and Dean turned his head to the side to sleep. His arms were too cut up for him to lay on his side.

Cas came back into view when he kneeled next to the low bed. With the confidence of someone who has never learned to be nervous, he reached forward and buried his hand in Dean's hair.

"Uh, Cas?"

Reading his mind as only the angel could, Cas replied. "This is the same thing you did for me, yes?" "Well yeah, but-" Dean felt like he should really tell Cas to stop, but the long fingers playing with his hair felt nice, and he was really tired...."Yeah, okay."

He kept watching his angel, and Cas kept watching him. Cas watched him as his eyes drooped and fell slowly shut, only to open again and meet his own. He watched him as his head fell to the side more, and his bright green eyes finally closed for the night. Then he watched him a little more, enjoying running his hands through Dean's hair, until he felt his vessel -no, his body- tiring.

It seemed illogical to use the other bed and make Dean share such a small space with Sam when he returned. Sam's large form would make sharing uncomfortable for both of them, and Dean wouldn't be able to rest fully, or heal as much as possible. So he walked around to the other side and laid down.

An idea nudged at him for a few seconds, and he gave in easily. It always seemed to please Dean, and after all, saying goodnight was a lot like saying goodbye. Rolling onto his stomach he propped himself up with one hand, and leaned over Dean, placing his other hand on Dean's uninjured shoulder. With a start he realized it was the one he'd marked. After taking a moment to remember how it had all started, he brought himself back to the present and leaned down to Dean's cheek.

At the last second, Dean shifted in his sleep and turned his head forward. Cas's lips missed his cheek, and touched his mouth instead. The angel froze, this wasn't at all what he'd meant to do. When Dean moved Cas was worried he'd woken up, and wondered if he was doing something unacceptable. But Dean was still asleep, even as he lifted one arm and rested it on the side of Cas' face, and kissed him back. It was very chaste, like Cas remembered recieving from Daphne when he had lost his memory. But it was also very different from that, because this was _Dean_.

Castiel didn't continue it, feeling somehow like it was wrong to kiss Dean while he slept. A very sharp thought made him pull away immediately. Dean didn't know it was him, Dean thought he was kissing someone else. The angel felt very sad as he scooted himself onto his knees and took Dean's hand from his cheek, placing it on the bed between them.

He laid himself down on his side, so he could watch the man beside him. He didn't know what to do now, and cursed himself for not understanding how to be a proper human. Without noticing, he pressed his fingers to his lips as he fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, I've finished the last chapter in the series. Only took me about 3 months. Anyway, here you go. :D

Dean woke up to deep blue eyes.

It should have startled him, but he'd finally stopped being surprised at the angel's tendency to watch him sleep. Even after Castiel had started sleeping like a human, he always managed to wake up before Dean.

He wasn't completely aware yet, and chose to just watch those eyes for a little bit. Surely Cas couldn't fault him, he was a wounded man. They were close enough that Dean could see the texture in his iris'; cobalt mountains and valleys, a whole world hidden in his eyes. When Cas blinked, Dean could count each of his eyelashes, if he wanted to.

It only took a few minutes for Dean to wake up enough to realize what he was doing, and turn away. He cleared his throat and turned as he sat up, leaning over to the nightstand and grabbing the pills that Cas must have put out for him before he went to sleep. He swallowed them dry and looked over at Cas, who was still laying on his side, watching him even more closely than usual.

"Morning Cas?"

The angel jerked into motion and sat up, crossing his legs. "Hello Dean." He paused for a second, before climbing off the bed and disappearing into the bathroom. Even for Cas, he was being weird.

For the moment Dean ignored it, and got ready for a day of driving.

After Sam was rolled out of bed Cas flew off. He still kissed Dean's cheek but it was different somehow; a jerky brush of mostly cheek, for only a few miliseconds, like he was shy. The thought made Dean uncomfortable. His Cas didn't get shy.

He didn't get a chance to ask the angel about it for the next few days, as Sam was always in the room, and Castiel only stayed long enough to help them with their case, and sleep. Sam finally started to notice something was up when Cas asked to share his bed, when for months he'd been bunking with Dean, or on his own while the brothers shared.

"Uh, sure Cas. You okay?" Sam asked as he dropped his bag next to the mattress.

Castiel looked at him and tried a half smile, saying "Of course Sam, why wouldn't I be?"

Normally Dean would be proud of the attempted facial expression, but seeing Cas use it to lie -and Dean _knew_ he was lying- sent discomfort crawling its way up his throat. Instead of saying something though, he cleared said throat and flopped back on the second twin. "Guess I have a bed to myself tonight." He hated that it didn't sound nearly as carefree as he'd meant it.

Sam left, just after they'd finished the nights research; something about needing to stock up on the salt. The look he shot Dean on his way out the door said differently, it was more of a " _Talk to him, or I will_."

Castiel didn't seem to find anything unusual about Sam going to buy salt at 11pm, and puttered around the hotel room for a while, rearranging his bag.

The bag was a gift from the brothers to the angel, right around the time he started sleeping. Inside was a sort of starter kit for hunting; salt, knife, a sawed off shotgun with salt rounds, first-aid kit, a toothbrush and toothpaste in a baggy, about $70 bucks and spare change for a hotel room or a call, and an extra set of clothes.

Dean had picked those out, figuring that something close to what Cas already wore, would be more comfortable for him. It was just a white undershirt and dress shirt, with black slacks, some boxers and black socks, but Cas had stared at it for a good minute until Dean finally asked him if he was okay.

Castiel had simply nodded, and set the clothing and bag aside. "I understand that when people are given gifts, traditionally they express physical gratitude toward the giver?" His communication had still needed some work, and Dean had gaped at him for a couple seconds before realizing what he was trying to say. When it dawned on him he couldn't help but laugh.

"Come here Cas." He'd pulled Cas in by the shoulders and given him a quick firm hug. Cas hadn't reacted until the hug was almost done, but got in a good second of having real physical contact before it was over.

Now he was practically cagey, and kept a good 5 feet between him and Dean as he prepared for bed. Dean let him until the nerves got to be too much. Then he sat on the edge of his bed and said, "Cas, let's talk."

He swore the angel actually flinched, but with his back turned to Dean, he couldn't be sure. Slowly, like a child being scolded, Cas sat on the other bed, across from Dean. He was playing with his shirt cuffs, having taken the jacket off a little while before. It still occasionally weirded Dean out, seeing Cas without his trenchcoat. It'd become like a second skin to the angel, and when he took it off, Dean sometimes felt the urge to look away and give him privacy.

"You wanna talk about it?" Dean asked. He wasn't particularly good at the whole feelings thing, but had been getting a lot of practice with Cas since he'd starting becoming more human. At the beginning he would just help Cas calm down when he got frustrated at his waning abilities, but when Cas asked him questions, Dean tried his best to answer properly. He was harder to talk to than Sam, once Sam got started, he just had to sit back and listen while the genius worked things out himself.

The angel shook his head and looked down at his hands, "I don't think there's anything to talk about Dean."

Dean leaned forward and watched until Cas looked up at him again, "Obviously there is, I haven't seen you this twitchy since coffee started working on you. So come on, what's wrong?"

Immediately Cas' shoulders relaxed, and he gave Dean another one of those half smiles. "Nothing is wrong Dean, I thought something was, but it's not." This time, Dean couldn't tell if he was lying or not.

With a sigh he stood up, "Alright then, I give up, I'm going to bed." He took off his overshirt and tossed it toward his duffel. With his best flirty grin he asked Cas, "A kiss for sweet dreams?" Dean looked down as he laughed, but Cas' shoes entered his vision all the same. No, it was supposed to be a joke. Dean turned his head back up to explain, but found his lips trapped against Cas' own.

It barely lasted a second, but Dean felt like the angel's lips had burnt another brand on him. His instinctual smart assery was put on hold for staring at Castiel, who didn't seem to be taking quite as well.

"Not again! How can something so unusual repeat itself? Dean my apologies, I had no intention, you simply moved at the wrong time, it was a mistake." He backed up and almost fell onto the bed in his rush to get out of Dean's personal space. When Cas got frustrated or upset he tended to revert back to the overly formal talking that he'd had when they first met him.

Dean cut off another apology and grabbed the angel's shoulder to keep him from falling. "What do you mean 'not again'?"

He watched Cas slump in defeat.

"I meant to kiss your cheek while you were sleeping, to say goodnight, but you moved. It was a mistake Dean, I didn't mean to."

But, Dean remembered that. The night before Cas had started acting weird. "You mean that wasn't a dream? That was _really_ you?"

This time Castiel really did flinch. "I apologize Dean, it was a mistake, I didn't understand."

Dean shook his head and rubbed at the back of his neck, "Cas, it's okay. Seriously man, I'm not angry. I thought I'd just..." He felt his whole face heat up and he stepped back too, shuffling a little to get around the edge of the bed and put more space between them. "I uh, I mean. You uh, nevermind."

Now it was Cas' turn to shake his head. "Dean I'm confused. Did you know it was me? Why did you not move away?"

He was met with silence as Dean headed to the kitchenette, likely looking for a beer. But the conversation wasn't over yet. "Dean!"

The man in question stopped and turned on him. "What? What exactly do you want me to say here Cas?"

For a moment the angel stared at him, thinking, before apparently settling on a decision and walking up to Dean. "I want you to tell me when to stop."

Without waiting for Dean to respond, he tugged on the mans shirt and pulled him into a kiss. On purpose this time. At first Dean was tense, and didn't react, making it hard for Castiel to do anything. He didn't have enough experience with this area of humanity to do much but press his lips to Dean's. But after a moment, Dean shifted forward and suddenly the kiss was _real_.

There was none of the wrongness from before, or sadness, because this time Dean _knew_ it was him. Dean was slowly teaching him how kissing really worked, and by the time Cas pulled away, he was breathless. He couldn't help but be slightly in awe of the fact that he'd kissed Dean Winchester, and Dean Winchester had kissed him _back_.

The man was grinning at him and saying, "I didn't tell you to stop."

 

When Sam returned about an hour later, after stalling as long as possible in the store before he started to get strange looks from the employees, he entered the apartment to find both men asleep on Dean's chosen bed. As if this weren't enough of a relief, they were curled into each other in a tooth achingly sweet way that could only mean one thing.

Took them long enough.

**Author's Note:**

> And that was a collection of the very first pieces of fanfiction I've ever written. I know I'm a bit inexperienced, but it was actually even more fun than it was frustrating. Please be sure to leave me comments telling me what you thought, I'd love to hear from you.


End file.
